Here’s a recently developed fact sheet on toxoplasmosis, a significant disease threat to the survival of Hawaii’s endangered Hawaiian monk seal. More information can be found here. Additionally, a public forum is being held this Saturday, March 31st on Oahu to address the concerns and impacts of toxoplasmosis to Hawaii’s wildlife and public health. Dr. Michelle Barbieri, the Wildlife Veterinarian Medical Officer with the Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program, and Angela Amlin, the Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Coordinator, are both on the panel. Scroll down for more information.

At 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 6, a report was called in to the hotline of an adult female, R376, hauled out at Poipu with something hanging out of her mouth. Our monk seal response team suspected she may have had a fish hook stuck in her mouth and the dangling bits were bait. Upon arriving at the beach 30 minutes later, the organic material was still visible, but what was also evident to the team was that she’d lost quite a bit of weight since her last sighting one month before. The combination of the two issues prompted our local team to reach out to the Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program–all disturbances/handling of endangered Hawaiian monk seals require clearance–and it was decided a physical examination was warranted.

R376 in thin body condition on March 6, 2018.

With the help of a trained volunteer team, R376 was easily herded into a transport cage and transported to secure location to await the NOAA veterinary team that was en-route from Honolulu to assist with the examination.

At 3:30 the seal was sedated and examined with radiographs taken from the head to stomach; however, no hooks were present. A visual inspection of the seal’s mouth revealed a large spinous fish bone lodged between the hard palette, left inner cheek, and tongue. The organic material dangling from her mouth was a large octopus arm that was caught on the fish bone. A pair of needle nose pliers were used to carefully remove the bone. An antibiotic injection was given, blood samples were taken for post morbillivirus vaccination titers, the seal was flipper tagged 7AU (left flipper) and 7AV (right flipper), and the sedation was reversed.

Small wound and infection from embedded fish bone.

Fish bone (top) and octopus tentacles (bottom).

R376/7AU was transported back to Poipu and released by the Kauai team by 6:30 p.m. The seal entered the water and departed the area.

If you come upon this monk seal (flipper tags 7AU/7AV), please give her wide berth while she recovers and regains her lost weight. But please take photos and report her whereabouts to our hotline: 808-651-7668.

The Kauai team logged 259 seal sightings this month. This included 32 individually identified seals.

Feb: 259
Jan: 336
Dec: 270
Nov: 239
Oct: 225
Sep: 354

New Issues:

RK90 returned after 6 week absence. Was large and pregnant on 12/28/17 and then sighted on 2/17/18 thin. Likely pupped on Niihau. This would be her first pupping.

Updates on previously reported issues:

NG00 is likely still hooked and was not sighted this month. NG00 was observed with a circle hook in lower right lip. Sighted on Niihau in January. Photos match pictures sent in by fisherman along Kaumakani in September of a hooked seal. Seal in good condition, hook not life threatening, will attempt to de-hook next time hauled out on sand.

Poipu Keiki Pool: 6 displacements took place this month. Listed below are which seals and how many total times they have been displaced from the keiki pool. Please remember displacements require skilled training and, as always, prior approval from NOAA. Please never attempt this on your own. But please do call the hotline (808-651-7668) when/if you find a monk seal in the Poipu Keiki Pool.

RN02 – 3rd displacement

RG58 – 1st and 2nd displacement both this month

R339 – 4th displacement

RV18 – 1st displacement

RK90 – 3rd displacement

Morbillivirus vaccinations: All vaccines on Kauai have expired. No further vaccinations will occur for the time being.

Unfortunately, monk seals have one of the highest entanglement rates of any pinniped species. Masses of ghost fishing nets (think giant tangles of plastic spaghetti) create their own kinds of floating ecosystem, so they can attract monk seals to them for food. Plus, monk seals have curious natures, and it’s the pups who are most often entangled.

According to the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center:

From 1982-2014 a total of 347 seals have been found entangled in marine debris, of which 237 (68%) were rescued, 93 escaped unaided, 9 died, and the fate of 8 others is unknown. About 96% of all entanglements have been observed in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), however, due to the remoteness of these islands, it is unknown how many additional seals drown or die from entanglement when researchers are not present.

Marine debris has become a routine part of a field biologist’s efforts in saving monk seals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands–the protected area of the Hawaiian archipelago known as the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. At some atolls, the entanglement threat is so great that the field crew conducts twice-daily–morning and afternoon–surveys to free any entangled monk seals, turtles, and seabirds. But there is no field crew stationed during the winter months at these locations.

In addition to monk seals, the islands, islets, and atolls host more than 7,000 marine species. In the summer of 2016, the team helped remove over 7,000 pounds of marine debris. That was one pound of marine debris for each species of marine life.

Photo credit: S. Johnson

When we say “marine debris,” we mean:

ghost fishing nets

fishing lines

fishing traps

fishing buoys

tires

televisions

lightbulbs

laundry baskets

plastic bottles

plastic bottle caps

plastic jugs

plastic tooth brushes

plastic cigarette lighters

cigarette butts

And that’s just a quick list.

Marine debris is not a problem limited to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, where an estimated 85 percent of the population of Hawaiian monk seals reside. In the main Hawaiian Islands, we lose monk seals to drowning due to entanglement with fishing gear, including here on Kaua`i. Since starting this website in 2009, four Kauai-born seals (RT12, RG13, R4DD, RJ22) have died in which drowning was suspected to be the cause of death. In these cases, necropsies indicated acute death and histopathology reports indicated no disease or injury. Inconclusive results such as these are challenging, however one likely cause that is of great concern is acute death by entrapment underwater causing wet, not dry drowning.

What you can do:

Join or lead a clean-up. The Kauai chapter of Surfrider is very active and often focus their efforts on many of the beaches monk seals haul out.